Released in the patriotic haze of 1986—just a few months before Top Gun roared into theaters—Iron Eagle was the first major film of the decade to put fighter jets and military bravado front and center. It’s a film that wants to be a high-flying action epic, a teenage revenge fantasy, a buddy movie, and a … Read More “Iron Eagle (1986): Soaring Ambition, Clunky Execution, and the Fighter Jet Fantasy of the ’80s” »
In the long, blood-soaked, wisecrack-laced history of Tales from the Crypt, there are episodes that stick with you because they’re smart, creepy, or delightfully twisted. And then there are episodes that you remember simply because they swung for the fences—ambitious, experimental, and occasionally more interested in technique than storytelling. “You, Murderer,” the fifteenth episode of … Read More ““You, Murderer” (Tales from the Crypt, Season 6, Episode 15): A Gimmick-Heavy Noir Homage That Trips Over Its Own Ambition” »
In a cinematic landscape often obsessed with spectacle and speed, films like Of Mice and Men (1992) feel like sacred echoes from a quieter, more reflective era. Directed by and starring Gary Sinise, and featuring a career-defining performance from John Malkovich, this adaptation of John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella is a restrained and reverent rendering of … Read More “Of Mice and Men (1992): A Poignant, Faithful Adaptation of a Timeless American Tragedy” »
There are certain films that exist like fragments of a larger dream—half historical docudrama, half fever dream, and completely immersed in a singular mood. Ruby, the 1992 film directed by John Mackenzie, is one of those odd, uneven, yet strangely compelling entries. It’s a movie that reaches for meaning amid the madness of American conspiracy, … Read More “Ruby (1992): Conspiracy, Melancholy, and Sherilyn Fenn’s Glimmer in the Shadows” »
Diary of a Hitman, a 1991 neo-noir psychological drama directed by Roy London, is a film that slipped under the radar of most moviegoers when it was first released. Quietly nestled among the bigger and flashier thrillers of the early ’90s, this small-budget, stage-adapted crime film has since gained a kind of hushed reverence from … Read More “Diary of a Hitman (1991): A Bleak, Brutal Meditation on Violence and Redemption” »
There are some films that linger in the cultural imagination long after their release — haunting, inspiring, unsettling. Then there are films like Meridian, which linger for other reasons: confusion, regret, and the vague discomfort of wondering what, exactly, anyone was thinking. Directed by Charles Band and starring the captivating Sherilyn Fenn, Meridian is a … Read More “Meridian (1990): Beauty Meets the Beast, and the Beast Is This Movie” »
In the early spring of 1990, a strange show debuted on ABC. It had a murder mystery at its center, a dreamy-eyed FBI agent with a love for coffee, and a sleepy mountain town full of secrets. From the mind of surrealist director David Lynch and television veteran Mark Frost came Twin Peaks, a series … Read More “Twin Peaks: Where Dreams, Nightmares, and Cherry Pie Collide” »
If you’re going to make a steamy melodrama drenched in sweat, satin sheets, and slow-burning stares, you’d better cast someone who can carry it — not with dialogue, but with presence. Someone who can smolder on screen, make you forget the flaws in the script, and sell erotic longing with the tilt of a head … Read More “Two Moon Junction (1988): Southern Heat, Forbidden Desires, and the Untamed Magic of Sherilyn Fenn” »
In the pantheon of 1980s horror oddities, there’s a special corner reserved for films that had no business being bad — and yet managed to blow every opportunity they were given. Zombie High (1987) is one of those films. A genre mashup that squanders a promising cast, a juicy premise, and even the neon-soaked aesthetic … Read More “Zombie High (1987): How Do You Screw Up a Movie with Virginia Madsen and Sherilyn Fenn? Like This.” »
The 1980s was a decade that took genre blending to strange, often delightful extremes. It was a time when a teen revenge flick could fuse with supernatural horror, auto-racing action, post-apocalyptic fashion, and a love story powered by reincarnation. Into that beautifully chaotic cinematic stew came The Wraith, a 1986 film that bombed at the … Read More “The Wraith (1986): Death on Wheels, Love from the Beyond, and the Coolest Car You’ve Never Driven” »
